


a transparent knot tied

by porridges



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, more relevant tags will be added as the story progresses, teacher!jisung
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 03:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15986714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porridges/pseuds/porridges
Summary: Seongwoo thinks he and Minhyun are from two different worlds that have collided only because they are equally permanent members of what is basically the Yoon Jisung Appreciation Club. As the oldest members, they become, at times, the dads, and other times, the objects of all the clowning. They have no choice but to confide in their respective groups of kooky children (teenagers) as friends for relationship advice.Or, for men who have never been in love with other men, they’re doing great at flirting.





	a transparent knot tied

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from soulmate by zico and iu <3
> 
> thank u for viewing this work. i wish i did better, but i hope you enjoy regardless!
> 
> \- lemon

It is one of those days wherein he is supposed to be by himself, one of those days wherein he is usually curled up on his couch, being able to zone out everything, and tinkering with whatever little thing he is fascinated with at the moment, be it a new form of a stress ball, a Rubik’s cube (which, can take him an hour solving one side), or a sloppy mini clay figurine he made when he was bored out of his mind, or maybe he’d be sculpting it at that moment. This day is a Saturday, and unfortunately for him, apparently not going to be one of those Saturdays. 

Here he is, sitting across from Hwang Minhyun, who is clad in a neatly ironed warm toned sweater and polite to the point of folding his palms neatly on the table as he faces Seongwoo. This is not the first time they’ve met. Seongwoo definitely knows him, because he is Mr. Yoon’s favorite student, the one he did not know existed.

 

 

☾

 

 

Seongwoo did not think twice to attend Yoon Jisung’s birthday party. He couldn’t even keep a smile from reaching up to his eyes when he looked down at the elegant floral-patterned e-invitation made by Daehwi on his phone screen. Fond memories of bickering and inside jokes flashed in his mind in the span of these seconds. He hadn’t seen his most amiable high school teacher in so long, thus just the thought of him asking about Seongwoo after all these years and looking for his email address—or, the mere fact that he remembered Seongwoo and insisted on inviting him—was enough to throw him into the state of bliss that he’d felt the first time in a long time.

Yoon Jisung was the homeroom substitute for Seongwoo’s class in senior high. Their original homeroom teacher had been gone for half a school year due to health reasons. Jisung was, out of dozens of adults around the school, the one they became attached to in the few months he was with them, being the talkative and sensitive warm individual that he was. A presence like that was, ironically, foreign to the students. He was unlike the others, who never truly cared about them and made sure the kids were well aware they were only there to get payed. Mr. Yoon was somehow only a few years older than 19-year-old Seongwoo at the time, but he was more mature than anybody. He gave each of his students his full attention and appreciated them individually for who they were. Cliché, but true.

Beyond the lighthearted banter he and Jisung were known for as a dynamic teacher-student duo, nostalgia filled his system at the thought of again meeting the most noteworthy older brother figure he ever had.

When he crossed the threshold and arch of pastel balloons to the room with the brightest lighting, he was expecting the now-older Jisung to exclaim “It’s Ong Seongwoo! It’s Ong Seongwoo!”

Yeah, it did not happen.

His eyes first landed on the birthday celebrant from across the room slapping a tall toned guy, who Seongwoo didn’t recognize, playfully on the arm, as he did Seongwoo’s back in the day.

(It looked like it hurt a lot less than if he were Seongwoo. Maybe it even felt like the touch of a feather to him.)

The other man’s puffy eye bags became prominent as the corners of his lips turned up, and Seongwoo couldn’t help but believe his bright eye-smile, in a way, mirrored Jisung’s, although, Seongwoo noted, he projected a younger vibe. His laugh was low and melodious.

Seongwoo came up with a plan. He began with the surprisingly difficult task of dodging a crowd,—wow, he didn’t know Jisung had this much friends; he guessed he brightened up all these people’s lives—not taking his focus off the location of his target.

As the distance between them became shorter and shorter, the tall man (who was in fact beautiful in resemblance to an arctic fox, Seongwoo noted yet again) noticed his presence. When their eyes met, Seongwoo slowly placed his finger against his lips, hoping he would cooperate. The other man turned back to Jisung, who was so into narrating some story, and tried to remain normal, but did not do a very good job of it. He couldn’t help but glance towards Seongwoo again and again, his smile turning uneasy while Jisung spoke more and more and Seongwoo stepped closer and closer.

Seongwoo managed to land just behind Jisung when:

“Jisung, where are you? Where’s the ladies’ room?” a woman who looked to be Jisung’s mother exclaimed, searching the area for him.

Jisung briefly apologized to the tall man before rushing off to assist his mom.

What he didn’t know was that he had left the man alone in a close enough proximity with the person who was behind him to engage in a conversation. There was a short uncomfortable silence before the man initiated a polite small bow that Seongwoo then mirrored. It was just the beginning of the evening, yet Seongwoo was already flustered.  _What the fuck._

To be honest, Seongwoo arrived quite late. After the awkward encounter, in which he literally remained uninvited, it was announced that the program was to begin shortly. His eyes wandered until they landed on a table at the far back that accommodated his younger friends Woojin, Guanlin, and Daehwi, who were also Jisung’s current students. Fun fact, Mr. Yoon had just returned to teaching in his old high school a month before the party. From the looks of it, the kids fell in love instantly, and Seongwoo could only consider it understandable.

 

 

Seongwoo had no idea this was a possible scenario, him never getting the chance to catch up with one of his favorite people throughout the duration of the gathering. He wasn’t even mentioned. He wasn’t sure Jisung spotted him among the many guests, even. Or, worst-case scenario, he did and Seongwoo just wasn’t as special to him as he thought.

And— _ouch_ ,—it hurt. He shouldn’t have expected anything, but it became even more difficult to keep his humility when Jisung prepared a long ass appreciation speech about the arctic fox-reminiscent beautiful ass guy from earlier, who turned out to be named Hwang Minhyun, his former student and now one of his best friends. Because of Jisung’s lengthy descriptions of him, Seongwoo basically came to know that there existed a man good at what he himself is shit at _and_ what he is good at too. He began to feel some pity for himself as Jisung continued to explain how the man with the high IQ has never been in a slump in his life.

 _Okay_ , he said to himself. _It might… be... impossible to be on par with this Mr. Perfect. Actually, it definitely is._

 

 

☽

 

 

“I didn’t know about that.”

“ _About what_?” Jisung asked over the phone.

“About how I was replaced.” Seongwoo said in mock hurt. He _did_ feel hurt, but the shroud of what was left of his pride would not let the little secret out in the open.

“ _What,_ ” Jisung’s breath hitched. “Wait _, were you_ there _?_ ”

“Oh, no, I wasn’t. There was a livestream and I— _Yes_ , I was there.”

Jisung paused, and Seongwoo could imagine him furrowing his eyebrows as if to attempt to solve an equation. “ _Anyway—well—maybe if you kept in touch this whole time, it would’ve turned out differently._ ”

“Well,” Seongwoo began, mimicking the other. “ _maybe_ if you accepted my follow request that one time, we _would_ have been in touch.”

“ _That was four years ago, Seongwoo!_ ” Jisung whined. “ _You were underage, and I was tweeting about drinking with my friends._ ”

Seongwoo laughed at how stupid it is. He didn’t notice he’d been smiling so contently since it was revealed that Jisung, in fact, did not see him at the gathering.

“And for two weeks straight, I thought I was never special to you.” Seongwoo said lowly and pouted. “You have _so_ many friends.”

“ _Ong Seongwoo, if I knew you were there, I would’ve yelled your name in the mic for the entire fucking universe to hear. You didn’t even say hi._ ”

Seongwoo suddenly remembered his unique failed attempt to say hi, and shook his head as if to get rid of the memory. “Anyway, thanks for calling first. Miss you, _Hyung_.”

“ _Yeah, yeah. I know you miss me._ ” Jisung replied tiredly and hanged up.

 

 

☾

 

 

Seongwoo finds himself in a food court courtesy of Jisung’s Saturday lunch invite. He had expected it to be a lovely platonic date between the two of them, but the cosmos continues to surprise him. 

There are six of them in total.

“Jisung-hyung, this is really good. We _need_ to order this.” Daehwi demands, stabbing a finger at a corner of the menu.

“Which one?” Jisung looks over to the section.

“I think I’ll go with the strawberry churros. It sounds interesting.” Guanlin interjects proudly.

“Save the dessert for later.” says Daehwi.

Guanlin shrugs. “A growing boy’s gotta do what a he’s gotta do.”

Seongwoo almost snorts at what he hears from his seat behind them. Lai Guanlin’s self-awareness never fails to be amusing.

“Whatever floats your boat, kids.” Woojin simply says.

Daehwi scoffs. “You’re only two years older than me. And please don’t say ‘floats your boat’ or expressions of the like.”

“Whatever FLOATS YOUR BOAT, Daehwi.”

“Anyway— _anyway_ ,” Jisung finally interrupts. “let’s decide.”

Seongwoo hears the entire conversation from a table for two from behind.

Seongwoo is absentmindedly about to grab the last churro on the platter in front of him, but his hand lands on another’s, which already holds the last piece of the majestic pastry.

“Oh, sorry.” Minhyun says.

Seongwoo swiftly but clumsily pulls back his hand. “Ah—it’s fine! All yours.”

Minhyun shakes his head. He breaks the last churro in half and motions for Seongwoo to have one as he dips his (shorter) half in the dark, dark pool of liquid chocolate. Seongwoo meekly grabs his with a warm grateful smile.

The two are stuck there in the only other vacant table, losing four seats to the people arguing over the glossy menu.

Apparently, his smile is contagious, because the fox-like man then _laughs_. It’s a beautiful, melodic sound. The puzzling pleasant surprise makes Seongwoo grin again.

“What?” he utters.

“Nothing, nothing.” Minhyun answers, taking a bite.

Seongwoo marvels at how easy it is to speak this casually with someone you know to be the same age as you, even when you’ve just met.

They catch the sound of whispering and giggling from the far side. Seongwoo sees the amused looks of Jisung, Daehwi, Woojin, and Guanlin as they observe the pair. Daehwi merely waves at them with one hand while the other is clasped at his mouth, and he looks either or both entertained by Seongwoo and Minhyun and/or disturbed at himself for caring.

The first thing that Seongwoo should be thinking is that evidently, Jisung does considers him as one out of two of his favorite students ever, seeing as he’s clapping like he’s witnessing a monumental crossover. Instead, his eyes shift over to Minhyun once again, to witness the other pursing his lips uncomfortably at the sight of the four. Disappointment bubbles up in Seongwoo, though he wouldn’t admit it.

“Why… are they like this?” Seongwoo decides to mutter out loud.

Minhyun lets out a little laugh once again, much to Seongwoo’s relief.

The easing of the tension does not last long, however. Seongwoo turns to anywhere other than Minhyun as he nervously taps his heels on the floor. He shifts to trying not to panic over not knowing what to say next but his mental mantra of “ _shithead Seongwoo_ ” isn’t helping at all.

“Um,” he utters only for the sake of using his voice before his throat dries.

“Hey,” Minhyun interrupts him, turning to Seongwoo. Seongwoo isn’t even sure if Minhyun noticed him trying to speak. “Want to get out of here?” He says it first.


End file.
